Senior Power: Plan an Amazing Homecoming Event

The Homecoming dance is often an event presented by the upperclassmen to the underclassmen. Not only does the entire Homecoming event serve to welcome back former students, it can be a wonderful way to pass on school spirit and traditions to the younger students. If your senior Homecoming committee is looking to plan an amazing Homecoming event, remembering a few simple goals can help get the fun under way.

Homecoming Theme
Establishing a theme for your Homecoming events and carrying that theme across each aspect of your planning can help you do more with the resources and the budget you have. With a strong theme, your decorations can be as simple or as extravagant as you want and the event will still look polished and pulled-together. The top themes this year include Hollywood, Candy Land, rock star, Paris, and Mardi Gras. Stumps Spirit has a huge selection of event theme decorations and custom event favors that can have your event logo and info printed on them.

Once you’ve decided on a theme, plan decorations for each Homecoming event that coordinate with the theme. Use theme banners to advertise the events in your school hallways. Decorate the school for Homecoming Week. Select a theme arch for your Homecoming court ceremony and more elaborate decorations for the dance. One of the great parts of theme decorating is that decorations from one event can be repurposed for another. For example, decorations from your school hallways can be used at the dance.

Come up with a theme-based slogan such as “Down home with the Vikings” for a Western theme or “Saints Abroad” for a Parisian theme. Get creative with your slogan and incorporate it into your banners, favors, and other Homecoming promotions.

Pep Rally
The pep rally is an important part of Homecoming planning. Get students excited for the Homecoming game with an extra-special pep rally. Get the band to perform a preview of their halftime show, celebrate the football players and cheerleaders, recognize the candidates for Homecoming Court, and plan some fun for the whole crowd. For example, as students get settled in for the rally, have the cheerleaders lead the stands in a call-and-response cheer. Have students sit with their classes and compete for which year can do the best wave or the loudest cheer. Set up a relay race and have students race faculty or members of the starting lineup. Get your school mascot involved in a contest such as a hulahoop-off or a three-legged race. A fun pep rally sets the tone for a great weekend of Homecoming events.

Homecoming Game
Dress up your stadium for the Homecoming game. Use posters and custom sports banners to display your Homecoming slogan, welcomes for alumni, and other spirit messages. Use rolls of fabric or parade float materials such as vinyl fringe and festooning to decorate the stands, railings, or fences in your school colors.

During halftime, set up a special area on the field for the announcement of Homecoming King and Queen. Aisle runners, decorative arches, or one of Stumps Spirit’s royalty kits are simple, but impressive, ways to make your Homecoming court ceremony look like a real coronation. The pictures and memories will be enhanced.

Homecoming Dance
Many students will be most looking forward to the Homecoming dance. Bringing your theme prominently into the dance decorations is one way to make your Homecoming dance spectacular. The essentials, however, for a truly amazing Homecoming dance include a good DJ and space to dance. Decorate your dance floor by creating a ridge of festooning around the outline of the area. Make sure it is firmly secured to the floor to prevent tripping. Above the dance floor, hang paper lanterns or swags of gossamer, twinkle lights, and a disco ball so students feel like they are dancing in an elite club.